Sports shoes



Jan. 6, 1970 C. J. AUSTIN 3,487,563

SPORTS SHOES Filed Nov. 16, 1967 g -/4u.s 1/1 United States Patent 3,487,563 SPORTS SHOES Clive J. Austin, Wallaston, Wellingborough, England, as-

signor to Luther Austin and Sons Limited, Wellingborough, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Nov. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 683,720 Int. Cl. A43c /02 U.S. Cl. 3667 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sports shoe, for example a golf shoe having a moulded sole provided with transverse grooves to provide lines of flexing remote from the studs projecting from the sole.

The present invention relates to sports shoes of the kind having moulded soles of rubber or synthetic plastics material and provided with studs, spikes or other projections, all hereinafter referred to simply as studs, projecting from the soles thereof. Such studs usually have flanges which lie against the soles of the shoes to provide additional support for the studs. The studs may be secured in the soles as a result of the moulding operation or may be set in the sole and attached to the sole by other means, for example by adhesive or through threaded stud receptacles set in the soles during moulding and into which the studs are screwed. Examples of sports shoes of this kind are golf shoes and football boots.

It has been found that the flexing of a sports shoe of this kind in wear, sets up a tension in the outer surface of the sole, which disadvantageously causes movement of the rubber or synthetic plastics material under the flanges of the studs and also causes a withdrawal of the sole surface from the flanges of the studs, thus causing gaps to appear between the periphery of the flanges and the sole, into which grass, mud and other foreign matter can find its way. A further disadvantage is that since the studs are fixed relatively to the sole, their angle to the ground must always follow the curve of the sole, thus limiting the period during which the studs are in contact with the ground as the shoe flexes.

According to the present invention, the outer surface of the sole is provided with a series of recesses extending at least part way across the sole to provide lines of flexing spaced from each other lengthwise of the sole and at positions remote from the studs.

Said recesses may be grooves extending from the edge of the sole and extending only part way across the sole and each groove may then terminate at its closed inner end in an enlargement for example a circular enlargement. A series of further grooves may be located along the center of the sole and staggered with respect to the first mentioned grooves.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, one golf shoe construction in accordance therewith will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the outer surface of the sole of the shoe, and

FIGURE 2 shows a detail of the stud fixing arrangement.

Referring now to the drawing, the golf shoe has a moulded sole 1 of rubber or synthetic plastics material from which project studs 2 having flanges 3 lying against the outer surface of the sole. The golf shoe may be formed in a manner described in co-pending US. patent application No. 683,122, using a mould having two separable side pieces together defining the outline shape of the sole 1 and a bottom piece shaped to form the outer surface of the sole 1. The mould is completed by a steel foot onto which is lasted the shoe upper. To form the shoe the parts of the mould are forced together to cure the sole 1 under pressure. In the curing process the sole 1 and the shoe upper are bonded together and the sole flows to take up the desired form.

In FIGURE 2 of the drawing it can be seen that the studs are screwed into stud receptacles 4 to secure the studs 2 to the sole 1. The stud receptacles are set in the sole by the moulding operation and for this purpose a set of pegs are provided in the bottom piece of the mould, and prior to the placing of an uncured sole in the mould, the stud receptacles are each placed over a respective one of the pegs. In FIGURE 2 the flange 3 of the stud is shown located in a recess 5 in the sole.

Over that area of the outer surface of the sole subject to the greatest flexing stresses in wear, are provided during moulding of the sole a series of grooves 6. Each groove 6 extends from the edge of the sole part way across the sole, and in the particular example shown tapers gradually as it proceeds from the sole edge and then at its closed, inner end terminates in a circular enlargement 7 to give each of the grooves a keyhole shape. These grooves provide so to speak, lines of easy flexing for the sole and make the sole many more times flexible than would otherwise be possible with a sole thick enough to contain the inserts 4 for the studs 2. The circular enlargements 7 avoid excessive stresses being localised at the inner ends of the grooves 6. A row of further grooves 8 are located along the center of the sole and are staggered with respect to the grooves 6 to further increase flexibility.

The grooves 6 are, as can be seen in FIGURE 1, remote from the studs 2 so that movement of the outer surface of the sole at the stud flanges 3 is very small, thereby increasing the stability of the studs 2 and preventing lifting of the flanges 3 to allow ingress of foreign matter between the flanges 3 and the sole 1. Also, making the sole to flex along the grooves 6 enables the studs to maintain their original angle to the ground for a longer period than would be possible with an ungrooved sole, thus increasing grip and traction of the shoe.

The shape, depth and location of the grooves in the sole are selected to suit the thickness of the sole, the characteristics of the sole material and the flexing characteristics of those particular parts of the sole in which the grooves are to be located. In view of this, the groove formation may vary from that shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawing.

I claim:

1. A sports shoe of the kind having a molded sole of rubber or synthetic plastics material and provided with studs projecting from the sole, wherein the outer surface of the sole is provided with a series of grooves which extend at least partway across the sole from the edge thereof to provide lines of flexing for the sole spaced from each other lengthwise of the sole and at positions remote from the studs, and a plurality of enlargements each having a minimum cross-sectional dimension which is greater than the width of a groove, at least some of said grooves intersecting an enlargement.

2. A sports shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said enlargement is circular.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,747,302 5/ 1956 Heisterkamp 3632 3,341,952 9/1967 Dassler 36-2.5

3,343,285 9/1967 Kowal 36-67 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,133,277 7/ 1962 Germany.

3. A sports shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein a 10 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner further series of grooves are located along the center of the sole and are staggered with respect to said first mentioned grooves.

US. Cl. X.R. 36-25 

